Pakistan out of FIH Champions Trophy

Pakistan’s improved run at the FIH Champions Trophy 2012 came to an embarrassing end on Saturday, when they were thrashed 5-2 by the Netherlands in the first semi-final in Melbourne.

By the end of first half, the clueless Pakistan were short of two goals as Netherlands were leading 3-1. Then, Dutch team with unmatched scoring prowess scored the fourth and fifth goals in the second half, sealing a definite win against Pakistan.

The Greenshirts went behind in the second minute when Billy Bakker scored from open play and the Dutch maintained the pressure for the rest of the match to book a spot in tomorrow’s final.

Pakistan earned a penalty corner in the 10^th minute but failed to convert after choosing for an indirect attack. The persistent Dutch attack paid off in the 20^th minute, when  Severiano Van Ass doubled the lead soon after his team forced an impressive save from Pakistan’s goalkeeper Imran Butt.

Pakistan’s first goal came in the 23rd minute when a scintillating pass into the circle towards Shakeel Abbasi was put in by a Dutch defender. However, Bakker scored a brilliant goal in the 33rd minute to help his side maintain the two-goal cushion at half-time.

When play resumed, Pakistan made several moves into the Dutch half but failed to convert from a number of good chances while the Dutch applied pressure of their own by testing the Pakistan defence at the other end.

The Greenshirts were left to rue their missed chances when Valetnin Verga’s powerful shot from just inside the circle consolidated the lead for Netherlands and put them within touching distance of their third consecutive final at the Champions Trophy.

With eight minutes left, the Netherlands scooped in their fifth and final goal of the match, with Pakistan’s defence lacking any strength to plug the gaps.

Pakistan’s leading goal-scorer of the tournament, Shakeel Abbasi, scored his first direct goal of the match in the dying seconds to give some consolation to the small but vociferous Pakistani contingent in the stands.

While they lost a chance to go for gold, Pakistan can still end up on the medals table should they win their third position match against either India or Australia, who play the second semi-final later. The green shirts had entered the semi-final stage after a lapse of eight years.

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Posted by Web Desk on Dec 8 2012. Filed under Latest News, Pakistan, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.